Check it out Chasers! Finally the Brits get chasing foil legalised

After years and years of fighting and debating and hassling and writing and discussing and persuading, the Home Office in the UK has finally accepted foil as legal under the provision of drug paraphernalia, meaning it is no longer illegal to be found with it and, more importantly, it is now legal for needle and syringe services (many who have been doing it discreetly for years anyhow) to possess it; which means it gives smokers a reason to pop in to their local service to ask for some and thereby make some contact for the future.

It’s been a long time coming – many smokers have been left out in the cold when it comes to whats on offer at NSP, but with more and more smokers getting involved at these services, there will be more and more reasons to develop services to suit a chaser. So well done to ALL those who have never ever given up on this. I have to make a special mention to Exchange Supplies make such neat and perfectly formed foil that one doesn’t have to ‘burn’ off first (that’s only cooking oil btw to stop the rolls of foil sticking together). So here it is, the final bloody statement!….

Written ministerial statement on the government’s acceptance of Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs advice on the lawful provision of foil. 4th July 2013

This written ministerial statement was laid in the House of Commons by Theresa May and in the House of Lords by Lord Taylor of Holbeach.

The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Theresa May): The government has accepted the advice of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) to allow for the lawful provision of foil by drug treatment providers subject to the strict condition that it is part of structured efforts to get people into treatment and off drugs.

The government’s 2010 Drug Strategy, Reducing demand, restricting supply, building recovery: supporting people to live a drug-free life is ambitious in its aims and takes a balanced approach. At its core is recovery – enabling individuals to live free from drug dependency, enabling them to re-build their lives and address the criminality and health issues associated with drug abuse.

The available evidence shows that the provision of foil can encourage people to take their first steps into treatment, reducing the immediate harm and facilitating the onward journey towards recovery and abstinence. By lawfully providing foil under strict conditions, we also tackle the significant health risks associated with injecting behaviours, including the transmission of dangerous blood borne viruses.

The government will introduce legislation to ensure foil is only offered by drug treatment providers as part as part of structured efforts to get individuals into treatment, on the road to recovery and off of drugs. We will also put in place mechanisms to carefully monitor and evaluate take-up, implementation and adherence to the conditionality over the next year.

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